Garment component having bound buttonholes and method of making same

ABSTRACT

A FABRIC BORDER STRIP CONTAINING BOUND BUTTONHOLES PARTIALLY COMPLETED, SO THAT THE BORDER STRIP CAN BE ATTACHED TO A GARMENT PANEL. THE STRIP IS CENTRALLY FOLDED AND HAS ONE OR MORE BUTTONHOLE TABS STITCHED CENTRALLY FOLDED AND HAS EDGES OF ONE OR MORE BUTTONHOLES CUT INTO THE STRIP ADJACENT ONE SIDE OF THE CENTRAL FOLD. THE PORTION OF THE STRIP ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CENTRAL FOLDS HAS THREE PARALLEL STITCHED SLITS OF WHICH THE CENTER ONE IS ALIGNED WITH THE BUTTONHOLE, AND TWO FURTHER STITCHED SLITS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PARALLEL SLITS AND ADJACENT EITHER END THEREOF.

Jan. 19, 1971 E. G. HEAGLE 1 3,555,570

GARMENT COMPONENT HAVING BOUND BUTTONHOLES AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed July 25, 1969 2 SheetsSheet 1 ELLR GEORU 35 NA HEHGLE BY fl K6,

PATENT AGENT 1971 E. G. HEAGLE 3,555,570

GARMENT COMPONENT HAVING BOUND BUTTONHOLES AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 7 .Filed July 23, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvu/v'nm. ELLA eEoRemq HEHGLE BY m k PATENT AGENT 3,555,570 GARMENT COMPONENT HAVING BOUND BUTTONHOLES AND METHOD OF MAK- ING SAME Ella Georgina Heagle, 1412 Prospect Ave. SW.,

Calgary, Alberta, Canada Filed July 23, 1969, Ser. No. 844,069

Int. Cl. A4lf 1/02 US. Cl. 2-266 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fabric border strip containing bound buttonholes partially completed, so that the border strip can be attached to a garment panel. The strip is centrally folded and has one. or more buttonhole tabs stitched centrally to the edges of one or more buttonholes cut into the strip adjace'nt one side of the central fold. The portion of the strip on the other side of the central fold has three parallel stitched slits of which the centre one is aligned with the buttonhole, and two further stitched slits perpendicular to the parallel slits and adjacent either end thereof.

This invention relates generally to the art of forming bound buttonholes in garments, and has particularly to dowith a garment component in which the bound buttonholes are already partially formed, so that the garment component can be merely attached 'to the edge of a garment panel, thereby providing a series of bound buttonholes in a quick, simple and efficient manner.

Generally speaking, bound buttonholes are of a better quality than machine-made buttonholes, and are distingui'shable therefrom on sight by virtue of the fact that, in a bound buttonhole, only fabric is visible, whereas in a machine-made buttonhole, the stitching around the edge ofjthe buttonhole can be seen. In machine-made buttonholes, the conventional procedure involves merely cutting a hole or slit through the fabric before or after machine stitching the buttonhole.

The conventional steps in making a bound buttonhole are as follows:

i (1) Measuring the edge of the garment panel to determine the location of a buttonhole, and then measuring and cutting small squares of fabric to be placed centrally over the location of the buttonhole.

(2) Sewing the measured square centrally to the garment panel at the location of the buttonhole. This sewing or stitching is done along either edge of the buttonhole location.

"(3) Cut the buttonhole between the parallel rows of stitches securing the square.

(4) Bring the square through the buttonhole to the underside of the fabric.

(5) Complete the buttonhole by slashing the lining or underfacing of the garment, turning in the raw edges of the square and sewing the hole by hand.

The above conventional method of making bound but tonholes involves considerable handwork, and it is accordingly an object of this invention toprovide a readymade garment component, incorporating bound buttonholes, which can be secured to a garment panel quickly and easily.

1 Although the present invention does not reduce the total number of steps beginning with the raw materials and ending with the finished garment having bound buttonholes, it does permit most of the difficult and timeconsuming steps to be performed on a border-like edge piece, the idea being that the person actually fabricating the garment would purchase the border-like edge piece United States Patent 0 3,555,570 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 with the pre-formed bound buttonholes, and be faced merely with stitching the edge piece to the garment panel. He or she is thus relieved of the necessity of performing all of the time-consuming steps involved in making bound buttonholes in the garment.

More particularly, this invention provides, in combination, a fabric border strip adapted to be folded along an intermediate fold-line which divides the strip into a first portion and a second portion, the strip when folded being adapted to receive a garment panel edge between the portions with the first portion outermost, the first portion thus having an outside face remote from the second portion when the strip is folded, the first portion having at least one buttonhole, and a buttonhole tab stitched centrally to the edges of the buttonhole on the outside face and being slit in alignment with the buttonhole, the buttonhole tab having four slits, two of which extend from near one end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole, the other two of which extend from near the other end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole, the said other portion of the strip having three parallel, stitched slits of which the centre one is aligned with said buttonhole and having two further stitched slits perpendicular to said parallel stitched slits, one of the further stitched slits being adjacent one end of the parallel stitched slits, the other of the further stitched slits being adjacent the other end of the parallel stitched slits.

This invention also provides a method of making a garment component with pre-formed bound buttonholes, said method comprising the steps: providing a strip of fabric adapted to be folded along an intermediate foldline which divides the strip into a first portion and a second portion, the strip when folded being adapted to receive a garment panel edge between the portions with the first portion outermost, the first portion thus having an outside face remote from the second portion when the strip is folded, marking the location of at least one buttonhole in the first portion, stitching a buttonhole tab centrally to the edges of the marked buttonhole location on the outside face, cutting the buttonhole and slitting the buttonhole tab in alignment with the buttonhole, cutting the buttonhole tab along four lines, two of which extend from near one end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole, the other two of which extend from near the other end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole, cutting, in the other portion of the strip, three parallel slits of which the centre one is aligned with said buttonhole, and two further slits normal to said parallel slits one of said further slits being adjacent one end of the parallel slits, the other of said further slits being adjacent the other end of the parallel slits, and stitching all of the slits in the said second portion.

One embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which. like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of fabric showing the initial step of the method of this invention;

FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are perspective sequential views steps in the method of this invention;

FIG. 6- is a perspective view, from above, of the portion shown in FIG. 5, in folded condition;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken at the line 77 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the pre-formed garment component of this invention partially affixed to the panel of a garment;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken at the line 9-9 in 3 FIG. 8, showing an intermediate step in the attachment of the garment component to the garment panel;

FIG. is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 9, showing a further step in the attachment of the garment component to the garment panel; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of the completed garment, showing the garment component fully stitched to the garment panel.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a fabric border strip 10 is shown to be substantially rectangular in configuration, and incorporates an intermediate fold line 12 which divides the border strip 10 into a first portion 14 and a second portion 16. The border strip 10, when folded, is adapted to receive the edge 17 of a garment panel 18 (see FIG. 8) with the first portion 14 outermost. The first portion 14 thus has an outside face 20 remote from the second portion 16 when the border strip 10 is in its folded condition.

As seen in FIG. 1, the first portion 14 is marked with indicators 22, which show the desired location of the eventual bound buttonholes in the first portion'14. The indicators 22 may be made with the conventional chalk or soap markers used in the garment industry.

The next step in the fabrication of the garment component of this invention is to cut square or rectangular buttonhole tabs 24 (only one visible in FIGS. 2-6), and to position them centrally over the desired location of the buttonholes on the first portion 14, as shown in FIG. 2. It will be noted in FIG. 2 that the arrow indicator 22 touches the mid-point of the right-hand side of the buttonhole tab 24, the latter being aligned with its sides perpendicular and parallel to the fold line 12. The buttonhole tab 24 can be made of the same fabric material as the border strip 10, or can be of another material. As will become apparent through the following description, the material of the buttonhole tab ultimately constitutes the bound edge portion of the bound buttonhole, and it may be desirable to have the buttonhole stand out visually by using a contrasting material for the buttonhole tabs 24.

The next step in the method of this invention is to stitch each buttonhole tab 24 to the first portion 14 in the manner shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the buttonhole tab 24 is attached by means of two parallel lines of stitching 26 (shown in dotted lines), which are closely spaced to one another, are perpendicular to the fold line 12, and are united at both ends. The stitching of such a closed loop is necessary to eliminate the risk that the ultimate bound buttonhole will become frayed during use of the garment.

The next step in the method of this invention is shown in FIG. 4, from which it will be seen that both the buttonhole tab 24 and the first portion 14 are slit along a line between the stitchings 26 to form a buttonhole 28. Also, the buttonhole tab 24 is given four slits of which two slits extend from near one end of the buttonhole 28 to the edges of the buttonhole tab 24 forming a Y with the buttonhole 28, the other two slits 31 extending from near the other end of the buttonhole 28 to the edges of the buttonhole tab 24 also forming a Y with the buttonhole 28. In FIG. 4, it can be seen that the slits 30 and 31 extend to the four corners of the buttonhole tab 24, although it will be clear from what follows that it is not essential for the slits 30 and 31 to be arranged in exactly this manner.

The cutting of the slits 30 and 31 divides the buttonhole tab 24 into two triangular end pieces 32 and 33, and two trapezoidal pieces and 36.

The next step in the method of this invention is to invert the end pieces 32 and 33 and the side pieces 35 and 36 through the buttonhole 28, and FIG. 5 shows a view of the underside of the first portion 14 after this procedure has been accomplished. It will be noted that the end pieces 32 and 33 and the side pieces 35 and 36, after having been inverted through the buttonhole 28, again take up the same relative positions as in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view, taken from above, of the border Cal 4 strip with the second portion 16 folded against the first portion 14, with the butonhole tab 24 folded through the buttonhole 28 in the manner shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a section of FIG. 6.

The next step can be seen in FIG. 1, where it is shown that the second portion 16 has a number of slits cut into it opposite each of the positions of the buttonholes 24, as marked by the indicators 22. Specifically, for each buttonhole 24, the second portion 16 of the border strip 10 has three parallel slits 38, of which the centre one is aligned with the buttonhole 24, and the two further slits 40 perpendicular to the parallel slits 38, the further slits 40 being arranged one at either end of the parallel slits 38. As shown at the bottom of the second portion 16, all five of the slits in each set are stitched to prevent fraying. Naturally, all of the sets of slits would be stitched, but FIG. 1 shows the border strip at an intermediate stage, with the top three sets of slits not yet stitched.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 8, in which the garment panel 18 is inserted between the portions 14 and 16 of the folded border strip 10'. The garment panel 18 has slits 42 (of which only one is visible) aligned with the buttonholes 28 in the first portion 14 of the border strip 10. The garment panel 18 is stitched at 44 to the border strip 10, such that the slits 42 in the garment panel 18 are in line with the buttonholes 28. The first portion 14 is then folded flat against the garment panel 18, and all of the end pieces 32 and 33 and side pieces 35 and 36 are passed through the corresponding slit 42 in the garment panel 18 and through the centre parallel slit 38 in the second portion 16. The result of this is shown, in crosssection, in FIG. 9.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, and by the arrows in FIG. 9, the two trapezoidal side pieces 35 and 36 are inserted through the outer slits 38 in the second portion 16, and are flattened out between the second portion 16 and the garment panel 18. Likewise, although not shown, the two triangular end pieces 32 and 33 'are drawn in a similar fashion through the two slits 40 at either end of the three parallel slits 38.

The final step is to machineor hand-stitch the inside edges of the portions 14 and 16 through the garment panel 18. This line of stitching is shown at 46 in FIG. 11.

The essence of this invention is the pre-formed border strip 10 with its first portion 14 in the condition shown in FIG. 4, with or without the corner slits 30 and 31, and with its second portion 16 provided with the required number of sets of five slits 38 and 40, all stitched as illustrated in the bottom set of slits in FIG. 1. The border strip would be prepared and marketed in this condition, and the steps shown in FIGS. 4-11 would be carried out by the purchaser of the border strip 10.

It will thus be seen that, from the point of view of the purchaser of the pre-formed border strip 10 in the condition mentioned above, a great deal of time-consuming stitching and cutting is saved. The additional work required involves cutting the corner slits 30 and 31 (if not already done), turning the tab to the inside, drawing all side and end pieces through, locking each piece into its matching slit 38 or 40, and making the two straight-line stitches shown at 44 and 46.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In combination:

a fabric border strip adapted to be folded along an intermediate fold-line which divides the strip into a first portion and a second portion, the strip when folded being adapted to receive a garment panel edge between the portions with the first portion outermost, the first portion thus having an outside face remote from the second portion when the strip is folded, the first portion having at least one buttonhole, and

a buttonhole tab stitched centrally to the edges of the buttonhole on the outside face and being slit in alignment with the buttonhole,

the said second portion of the strip having three parallel,

5 stitched slits of which the centre one is aligned with said buttonhole and having two further stitched slits perpendicular to said parallel stitched slits, one of the further stitched slits being adjacent one end of the parallel stitched slits, the other of the further stitched slits being adjacent the other end of the parallel stitched slits. 2. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which the buttonhole tab has four slits, two of which extend from near one end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole, the other two of which extend from near the other end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the buttonhole.

3. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which the buttonhole tab is inverted through the buttonhole and in flattened position between the first and second portions, such that no stitches are visible on the said outside face. 4. The combination claimed in claim 3, in which the buttonhole tab when inverted is short of contact with the fold-line.

5. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which there is a plurality of buttonholes spaced from one another at intervals along said fold-line, each buttonhole being spaced perpendicularly from, and oriented perpendicularly to, said fold-line.

6. A method of making a garment component with preformed bound buttonholes, said method comprising the the steps:

providing a strip of fabric adapted to be folded along an intermediate fold-line which divides the strip into a first portion and a second portion, the strip when folded being adapted to receive a garment panel edge between the portions with the first portion outermost, the first portion thus having an outside face remote from the second portion when the strip is folded,

marking the location of at least one button in the first portion,

stitching a buttonhole tab centrally to the edges of the marked buttonhole location on the outside face,

cutting the buttonhole and slitting the buttonhole tab in alignmen with the buttonhole,

cutting, in the second portion of the strip, three parallel slits of which the centre one is aligned with said buttonhole, and two further slits normal to said parallel slits, one of said further slits being adjacent one end of the parallel slits, the other of said further slits being adjacent the other end of the parallel slits, and stitching all of the slits in said second portion.

7. The method claimed in claim 6, in which the step of cutting and slitting is followed by the step of cutting the buttonhole tab along four lines, two of which extend from near one end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole tab to form a Y with the button, the other two of which exend from near the other end of the buttonhole to the edges of the buttonhole to form a Y with the buttonhole.

8. The method claimed in claim 6, comprising the further step of inverting the buttonhole tab through the buttonhole and flattening it in position between the first and second portions, such that no stitches are visible on the said outside face.

9. The method claimed in claim 6, which includes cutting a plurality of buttonholes in said first portion, the buttonholes being spaced from one another at intervals along said fold-line, each buttonhole being spaced perpendicularly from, and oriented perpendicularly to, said fold-line.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 399,061 3/1889 Lyon 2--266 2,713,686 7/1955 Oster et al 2-266 2,781,013 2/1957 Ketterer 2-266X 3,092,840 6/ 1963 Roberts 2128 3,094,703 6/1963 Bailey 2-96 ALFRED R GUEST, Primary Examiner 

